ByBlair Caldwell|May 1, 2020 at 5:56 PM EDT - Updated May 1 at 6:51 PM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Testing for COVID-19 has dramatically increased over the past two weeks.
Now the Coastal Health District is announcing they will have their testing site up and running seven days a week.
Since expanding the testing eligibility for COVID-19, Chatham County's specimen collection site has been busy.
“We have seen our testing numbers really go up over the last week. Just yesterday on Thursday our Chatham county specimen collection site saw over 200 people in one day come through,” said Risk Communicator Ginger Heidel.
To accommodate this high volume the health department will begin testing seven days a week including Sunday this week. This move however means they have to shift their services.
Starting Monday most clinical services will be held by appointment at their Eisenhower location, not midtown.
“I’m sure there are some people who are going to be inconvenienced by this and we do regret that, but the Eisenhower clinic it is in the city of Savannah, it is accessible on a bus route so we hope this doesn’t cause too much burden for people who are used to coming to our Drayton Street clinic and we just hope that people understand that right now we’re trying to do everything we can to serve sort of both of the health needs in our community right now in public health.”
Despite this change, the Coastal Health District says their other county health departments remain open and offering services.
“They are all by appointment only because we really want to make sure we can space out our clients and we don’t have people crowded in the waiting rooms but you can still get the services you need from your health department.”
Officials say if you have questions, want to schedule an appointment or qualify for COVID-19 testing you can contact your local health department.
Photo: Getty Images